The Utah football staff put the finishing touches on its first Pac-12 Conference recruiting class today--receiving 16 signed National Letters of Intent to bring the total number of signees to 19. Two freshman recruits are already enrolled in school and a mid-year junior college transfer is expected to join them soon.

"As we expected, recruiting in the Pac-12 Conference is very competitive environment," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "Our coaches did a great job of identifying talent and targeting who we were going to recruit, and our current players did a great job of selling what the University of Utah has to offer. The players we signed are excited to start a new era here at Utah and we are optimistic that they will help our transition to the Pac-12."

The Utes landed 16 freshmen and three junior college transfers in their latest class. Said Whittingham, "It is typical for us to sign mostly high school players and complement them with a select number of junior college transfers that we feel are ready to step right in and compete for playing time."

The 2011 class hails from four states, led by Utah with nine signees, followed by California (6), Texas (3) and Louisiana (1). "We did very well in-state, which is always our top priority," said Whittingham. "We also spend a lot of time and effort every year recruiting Texas and California, and we like our results in those states as well."

The offensive line gained the most players with five recruits, while the defense bulked up in the secondary by signing at least four backs (not including Quinton Pedroza, who was recruited as a receiver/DB). Overall, Utah signed 11 offensive players and eight defensive players, including three receivers and running backs, and two linebackers and defensive linemen.

"Our most pressing need was at running back and we addressed that by signing three very good players in Harvey Langi, John White and Jarrell Oliver," said Whittingham. "With the exception of running back, we looked for the best players available, regardless of position."

Freshmen Langi (Bingham High) and offensive lineman Isaac Asiata (Spanish Fork High) are already enrolled in classes at the U. White is expected to finish up soon at L.A. Harbor College and join the duo this spring.

Along with the 19-member signing class, Utah has five other initial counters for 2011. Freshman offensive lineman Zach Bolton (Houston, Texas/Klein Forest HS) and freshman quarterback Tyler Shreve (Highland, Calif./Redlands East Valley HS), who both gray-shirted last year after signing in February 2010, are now enrolled in school. In addition, scholarships were extended to freshman tight end Jake Murphy (Alpine, Utah/American Fork HS), freshman wide receiver Tyron Morris-Edwards (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) and senior defensive end Tevita Finau (Lahaina, Hawaii/Phoenix College), who were all on the team last fall.